“ ARVEY was a monster storm-a
“Cat 4” that came ashore with
winds in excess of 130mph. It came across Texas from Corpus Christi to Houston. 30 percent of homes were flooded in the Houston Metro of 6.6 million people. Highways became waterways. Two major reservoirs overflowed. The Houston airport was flooded.
Damage estimates exceeded $180 Billion. There were over 80 fatalities. The Coast Guard responded immediately to save lives.
DNACO Alex Malewski, our Past District Commodore received a call from the Coast Guard. “I had just returned home from our National Conference and got a call from CAPT Andy Sugimoto, Chief of Staff , Coast Guard District 8 in New Orleans. I knew CAPT Sugimoto from working with him earlier on Aux Aviation issues. He said they needed me at D8 Headquarters in New Orleans ASAP to lead the Auxiliary response to the Hurricane.” As you can imagine, the scope of the storm tasked all available Coast Guard assets in the AOR. “The Coast Guard needed the Auxiliary to step up.”
The Auxiliary immediately deployed a team experienced and skilled in ICS management. Auxiliarist Mark Stone from our District was deployed. COMO Malewski: “Mark is a great example of Auxiliarists with specific skills that are of great value to the Coast Guard. Mark is a former EMT with the NYFD and an expert on ICS.”
COMO Malewski responded immediately. “The Command Center was actually set up at D8 Headquarters in New Orleans. We immediately established an Incident Management Auxiliary Coordination Cell (IMACC) to manage Auxiliary response using our assets for Aux Aviation, PATON, and Watch standers.
"Aviation response early on was critical. All Houston airports were flooded so a forward operating airbase for all Coast Guard aviation assets was set up at Southland Airfield in Lake Charles, Louisiana.”
The Coast Guard needed an experienced aviation professional to manage the forward air base. “The Auxiliary responded by deploying Auxiliarist Wilson Riggin from D-7. He is an American Airlines Captain that flies the Boeing 777. He stepped up and ran the OPS for the Coast Guard forward air base.”
In addition to managing Aviation OPS at the forward airbase, the Aux also provided needed Comms Trailers and Comms Specialists which were immediately deployed.
COAST GUARD FOUNDATION
SALUTES AUXILIARY NEW YORK
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